Southern Scribes: Eagles Get Their Kicks With Tormenta FC This Summer
9/27/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Four Georgia Southern women's soccer players competed for the local Statesboro USL-W club
Grace Drawdy is a junior multimedia journalism major from Cumming, Georgia, who competes on the Eagle swimming & diving team. She is part of the Southern Scribes, which consists of Georgia Southern student-athletes writing about their department.
STATESBORO - As the Georgia Southern Eagles get deeper into the Sun Belt conference portion of their season, many of the women's soccer student-athletes reflect on their work and how they can improve even more going forward in the season.
Founded in 2015, Tormenta was the first pro team founded in Statesboro in more than 60 years. In the summer of 2022, Tormenta was crowned as men's USL League 1 champions. They were recognized by Statesboro's mayor, Jonathan McCollar, and given a key to the city for their successes in March of 2023.
The Georgia Southern women have had a notable start to the 2023 season. This fall, they knocked off Power 5 schools Miami and also picked up a key road win at the University of Montana. They were ranked 58th in the initial RPI rankings by the NCAA, the highest ranking ever achieved by the program.
The women returned home after facing South Alabama this past Friday. This was the women's first in-conference faceoff after having their match against the Georgia State Panthers rescheduled to October 11 due to inclement weather.
Several individual players for the Eagles have experienced early, notable success. Attacking midfielder Smith Cathey followed up her summer with Tormenta with a strong junior season for Georgia Southern. Currently, Cathey is the leading goal scorer for Georgia Southern with four goals.
Playing and practicing athletics during the off-season often leads to great success the following season.
"I think that playing over the summer helped me to stay mentally checked in with soccer, and if anything it made me even more excited to start the fall season with Georgia Southern," said Cathey.
Having a professional soccer team within Statesboro has provided more than just commercial benefits to the city. It will also help both programs cross-promote one another, ultimately elevating both teams as well as allowing players to gain more playing time during their off-season time.
Jhenesis Ellerbe, a fifth-year defender at Georgia Southern, has played for Tormenta the past two summers. This season, the women's soccer head coach, Chris Adams, recruited her to play collegiately for Georgia Southern this Fall. This is her first year being a part of Georgia Southern soccer, as she completed the last 4 years at Young Harris, a DII school located in Young Harris, Georgia.
"Playing for Tormenta not only developed me as a player but also as a person and leader," Ellerbe said. "I made my way up from D2 soccer at Young Harris to now playing for Georgia Southern."
Ellerbe is another example on an athlete who gained experience through the off-season locally through Tormenta. Not only did she gain more personal experiences through Tormenta, but it also opened up an opportunity to play collegiately for Georgia Southern. Having a professional team located by Georgia Southern will continue to allow both our collegiate men's and women's team to grow alongside the professional team.
Players Mentioned
MF
/ Women's Soccer
Free/Fly/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
D/MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer2026 Only For Southern
Thursday, February 26
2026 Georgia Southern Football Ticket Video
Wednesday, February 25
The GATA Zone - Air Rifle
Thursday, February 19
Walk and Talk: J.I. Clements Stadium
Friday, February 13
